Monday, April 25, 2016

Political nightmares

Trump? Clinton? Sanders? Someone else? Having trouble deciding this presidential race? How about your US Senator? Who would you vote for right now? Congressperson? Are you having any political nightmares? Do you want to just throw your hands up in the air and run?

Don't! Seriously. Some of the shenanigans from various candidates can certainly be frustrating, but that is all the more reason to stay involved. Read the flyers. Go to the meetings. Read what the newspapers are saying. Have conversations with friends and neighbors. The process involves us, all of us, and for it to really work, we need to all do our part. The biggest part of that, of course, is voting. Vote in EVERY election, even ones where there are few decisions. Think your vote doesn't count? Think again. I have seen some very close races over the years. Once about thirty-five years ago, I saw an election decided by just 47 votes. More recently, a friend of mine ran for office in Northern California, and won by just 292 votes. What if 300 of his supporters had said "My vote isn't important," and stayed home? The other candidate would have won.

I'm not a fan of any sort of negativity, even if the other guy starts it. I wish every candidate would run a clean and honest race. It just doesn't work that way though. All of the bad isn't enough to keep me away though. Want to change the system? Be involved in that system! Don't give up on this presidential race, as frustrating as it may be. Work to make things come out for the better. Change comes about when people dedicate themselves to making it happen.